The loaded crossbow did make me feel a little intimidated at first, however I did not show that off in any way. Instead, I simply turned to fully face the individual, before exhaling and chuckling lightly at their earlier statement.

"What actions would constitute as 'funny'? I just want some clarification if you don't mind."

I stated with a snarky tone, almost trying to make fun of the crossbow wielding individuals earlier statement. The individual seemingly wasn't very amused by my response under their mask, before they began moving to the side, keeping the crossbow aimed at me and their sight locked onto me as well.

Strange Person: "Quite the Jokester, are we?"

They stated, moving over to what appeared to be a desk, which had multiple arrows on it — all of which appeared to be tipped with some kind of material at their heads. While still keeping the crossbow aimed at me, the individual picked up some of the arrows and placed them inside of what seemed to be a quiver on their back.

I remained silent to their earlier comment - simply watching them move carefully, before exhaling and chuckling lightly to myself. Afterwards, I turned slightly to face them, about to speak, only for them to fire an arrow from their crossbow - which I just barely managed to catch before it hit me - grabbing a hold of it and lowering it down.

"Now that is just rude."

I stated, dropping the the tipped arrow to the ground. The individual seemingly looked shocked under his mask, however at the same time simply loaded another arrow into the crossbow, before aiming it and firing it off towards me immediately, before spinning his crossbow and placing it onto his back. As the arrow flew towards me, the individual grabbed a dagger from behind them, before dashing at me themselves.

A distraction with an arrow that's tipped with poison, followed by a straight on attack from themself.. Clever - but not clever enough to be able to harm me. I exhaled, simply knocking the arrow back with the back of my left hand, before quickly moving out of the way of the incoming strike with the dagger, grabbing the individual by their coats back colour and spinning them around, before throwing them towards the desk they had just been standing up - the individual crashing onto it with a heavy thud, shattering the desk apart and even breaking two cupboards behind the desk as they grunted under their mask.

'Might have put in a little too much force into that one.'

I thought, before standing back straight out and exhaling lightly again, beginning to slowly move towards the strange individual. They managed to slowly stand up back onto their feet, their whole body slightly trembling as they did, while they also threw what I could only assume was a glare of fury and anger under their mask.

Strange Person: "I admit... you're certainly not an easy target nor will you will be taken out like all of the other fools that dared to set foot in this abode.."

The individual stated, before grabbing a tight hold of their dagger and jamming it into their own left thigh, which I can only guess was to get their blood moving fast as well as give them a great adrenaline rush — which in any case would most certainly allow someone to keep moving somewhat stable.

Once the dagger was in their leg, they twisted it a bit before pulling it out and throwing the dagger to the side, beginning to move to the right side, the wound suddenly beginning to slowly heal. What a curious trick... Must be some kind of healing magic factor that only activates when something like stabbing their own leg is done.

Strange Person: "May I inquire as to what is your name, stranger?"

They suddenly asked. I couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at this question, before taking a hold of my hat and taking it off, placing it against my chest before bowing slightly towards the individual.

"You may. I am Valor — a traveling swordsman."

I introduced myself, before standing back up normally and putting the hat back on. My introduction seemingly left an impression on the individual, as they seemed a little less tense and more impressed underneath their cloaks and mask.

The individual exhaled, stretching out their body a bit before hitting their fists together - causing them to ignite in flames. Black flames. These black flames were very much the product of Dark Magic, something only a Damned or a Demon would be capable of utilising... Which meant, that this individual was either one of those under that mask.

X: "You may call me X. I am a sergeant of the Acolyte Dusk. Tell me Sir Valor — would you be so kind as to give me the honour of sparring with you?"

He asked, before taking a more battle ready position with his flame engulfed fists. Spar with him? That is an interesting request. Should I deny it or accept it? If I accept it, I risk blowing away my cover as the Demon King of Sins — if not that, then at the very least as a demon and not a human.

But at the same time...

This could be a good way to possibly get what I want from this individual who goes by the name of 'X'... Hm — What shall I do...

I thought about it for a bit, before exhaling and smiling lightly, before placing my hand onto the hilt of the sword that I had on my left hip, before unsheathing it and spinning it around, before swinging down towards the ground - looking at X with a content and calm, yet serious gaze.

"Very well. However, if I defeat you in a honourable battle — you will tell me what I want to know."

I replied, with X nodding lightly before crouching down a bit and leaping towards me with high speed, the flames engulfing his fists wavering in the wind that he was breaking through.

Seeing as though there may not be a single word spoken any further — I exhaled, before swinging my sword back and then spinning it, using its flat side to block the incoming flaming punch from X. Immediately in the same second, I also pushed him back, before spinning my sword around again and leaping at him, swinging my sword from the right side towards him, which he dodged — however, I followed up with an almost immediate second swing of my sword, this time from the top left and swung my blade down, which forced X to back up to avoid getting harmed.

From there, I proceeded to throw out all sorts of swings of my sword at X, most of which he managed to dodge successfully — however there were also some of them, which he didn't manage to dodge so well and thus resulted in light cuts and slices being placed onto his body, which caused him to click his tongue, before taking one step back and then suddenly intercepting one of my swings with his left leg.

The unexpected move admittedly caught me off guard, as he then proceeded to throw a punch with his right arm — successfully pummeling me across my face, but leaving no damage. He proceeded to then kick my head up, in what I can assume was an attempt to send me flying back — however, due to my basic invulnerability to all physical attacks, I didn't even budge one bit from my spot and only my head flew up.

X looked surprised at this, his sudden exhale signifying that he had not expected that outcome. He immediately attempted to create distance between him and me, leaping back to get out of my range, however, I quickly grabbed a hold of my sword and using some nifty acceleration magic, I dashed up to X and grabbed him by the collar, turning him around and tossing him away, before slicing a few times in the air, creating pressures of air and then proceeding to send those slices towards X.

This move was one only possible due to the use of magic, but at the same time, was quite simple. In practice, it simply was me using a bit of time manipulation to stop the slices of my sword in mid air — or in time — before sending them flying towards my target with a wind creating spell, before then lifting the time frozen factor on the slices and thus allowing them to continue and thus deal damage.

Basically one of those energy blade beams that other people would be able to create.

X looked shocked under his mask as soon as he saw the slices flying towards him, quickly stopping his motion with his right foot — by jamming it into the ground and then using his own magic spell to create a rock wall infront of him, which tanked the slices for him.

Afterwards, X made the rock wall explode into pieces before making some of the rocks form into a blade, which he grabbed a tight hold of and the leapt at me at high speed.

'Going for a sword duel now? This "X" individual really enjoys switching their fighting style a lot in the middle of the fight.'

I commented to myself in my mind, before letting my sword a bit more loose, before swinging it at X with as much force as I could — forcing X to stop his motion as fast as possible, before using his newly created rock blade to block the swing, only for the sword made of rock to shatter and force him to leap back again.

However, this time X was not as lucky as the last times, as my swing successfully managed to slice across his torso — sending blood flying through the air and very clearly sending a wave of shock and surprise through X, who landed pretty roughly a bit away from me, falling to his left knee as soons as he landed, before grabbing a hold of the sliced open part.

I exhaled lightly, before spinning my sword and sheathing my sword up, before walking up towards X, lifting my right arm up above me. Shadows rushed up my arm before engulfing my hand and creating a long, narrow blade.

This was a blade made of Shadows, made possible by me using very basic Dark Magic to give shadows a physical form. Now, why go through the effort of making a blade using my magic when I was already sort of winning with a regular sword? Simple, this 'Shadow Blade' as I liked to call it had the bonus of being able to paralyse an opponent with ease.

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I quickly spun the Shadow Blade around before simply chucking it at the shadow behind X, which it stabbed into and caused X to let lose a heavy exhale, before completely seizing motion.

X: "What...?"

X pushed out, clearly confused by what just happened. I exhaled again, approaching him slowly until I was right infront of him. X managed to push himself just enough to look up at me, his whole body struggling and trembling.

X: "What did you..."

"I used Dark Magic to create a blade made of shadows that I simply threw into your shadow. Since this sword is a physical shadow, it can interact with other shadows in interesting ways - one of my favourite is completely binding someone in one place."

I explained lightly, cutting X off before lowering my right arm down and shoving my hands into my coats pockets, narrowing my gaze down at X.

"In other words, I performed the equivalent of snapping your spine in half - just without the pain and consequences of such an action."

I added to my earlier statement, before lowering my head a bit more down. X seemed to be a bit shooken under his mask, however it was quite hard to tell so I was unsure about that. Although, I am one hundred percent sure that he most definitely did not expect me to just bomb drop using Dark Magic so casually, considering the nature of Dark Magic itself.

After a while of total silence, X exhaled heavy, lowering his head back down in a struggle.

X: "You have bested me. Tell me — what do you want to know?"

X stated with a slightly sour and annoyed tone. He definitely wasn't super excited or happy to announce himself as the loser of the duel, however that was understandable to some extent.

Though, his unforseen willingness to just answer any question I may have — without even me having stated what I wish to learn from him did take me by suprise. He said he was a Sergeant of this Acolyte Dusk organisation, which meant he most definitely possessed the knowledge and information I was seeking to learn.

Specifically, the information on why they were after Alis and wished to take her out. Sure, Alis had the future of becoming the Hero that will take a stand against the Demon King of Sins, but that would imply that if anyone should be trying to get rid of her, it should be me — not this organisation that wasn't even in the original story of the game.

After remaining silent and in my own thoughts for a few moments, I exhaled before sharpening my gaze upon X.

"Tell me — What is the Acolyte Dusks goal? What's the point of targeting Miss Alis Devanara?"

I asked, my tone sharp and demanding. X remained silent for a moment, before looking back up towards me in a struggle and seemingly about to say something to me, however, before he could get a word out, suddenly I felt a strange faint presence in the room, specifically behind me.

I quickly turned around, unsheathing my sword to face the owner of the presence — before very soft words were spoken.

Mysterious Individual: "Time Stop."

After these words were spoken, a wave of energy was released through the entire area, causing all of it to turn grey and everything to stop — Valor, X and even the air movements seized. Everything stopped — suddenly unmoving.

Valor stood with his blade half unsheathed, while X was still on his left knee, staring up towards the swordsman.

Then, footsteps began to echo, as a heavily cloaked individual walked towards the two. The cloak was large and thick, covering all of the individuals body, with a hood over his head and a piece of cloth covering his face. The cloak was a deep, deep dark grey colour while the cloth covering the individuals head was a much lighter grey colour, with a deep dark red coloured symbol on it.

The symbol was a very rough and rather simplistic version of a setting sun, with an eye inside of the sun — this, was the Acolyte Dusks emblem, the one the entire organisation used to mark themselves and their bases.

The individual clicked his tongue, walking up to the frozen Valor and X.

Mysterious Individual: "Tsk, tsk, tsk — X, my dear, you know better than anyone that we do not disclose any kind of information that may be important to anyone - no matter the circumstances."

He commented, looking at X before walking up to him and examining him. Looking at his injury, it didn't seem as deep as it looked which meant that he most definitely could continue fighting, however, looking behind him at the sword in his shadow...

That, was hindering him.

The cloaked individual walked up to the sword and grabbed a hold of its hilt, before pulling it out of X's shadow and tossing it away - the sword flying back a bit, before stopping in mid air, once again coming under the effect of the spell that had been cast around the entire area.

Afterwards, he turned back towards X, placing his hand onto Xs left shoulder.

Mysterious Individual: "Now, allow us to leave this place at once—"

"What a nifty trick this is."

I cut the individual off suddenly, sending a wave of panic through him as the cloaked individual looked all around the place in an absolute panic and shock. I tapped the wall beside me lightly with my right hands index finger, bringing his attention to me.

I was simply sat on top of a desk not too far from the entrance to this room, my legs crossed and a rather wide smile across my face.

Mysterious Individual: "Impossible! You can move within my time stop spell?!"

The cloaked individual shouted in annoyance, anger and shock. Seems like this little trick of mine had gotten him all fired up against me - not a big surprise though, as I doubt he has faced many individuals that are able to pull something like this against him.

I simply let out a light chuckle, before leaning back a bit, pressing my back against the wall.

"You should be careful with using Time Manipulation spells — those can land you in some real hot water with the Gods."

Mysterious Individual: "I am not afraid even a speck from the Gods. After all, the only one they have their sights on is the Tyrant of Demons."

The cloaked individual replied with a snarky tone, very clearly almost trying to mock the Gods and all that they stood for. Brave — especially for a human. Maybe he was a demon, but I doubt it, as all the demons that exist are completely under my rule - under the rule of Avis Virtiosa.

I let out another small chuckle a moment later, hopping off of the desk that I was sat on before walking towards the cloaked individual a bit, stopping with around a 5 meter distance between us both, before crossing my arms and looking at him with a sharp, narrow look.

"Alright then. Say, may I learn your name?"

I asked, tilting my head slightly to the right side afterwards, while keeping a slight smirk across my face. After a bit of silence, the Cloaked Individual exhaled, before letting go of Xs shoulder and turning to face me fully.

Mysterious Individual: "Seeing as you did manage to outwit X in battle and you are capable of moving within stopped time - I suppose I shall grace you with the honour of learning my name."

The individual stated, lifting up his right arm and placing it against the left side of his chest.

Myariard: "I am known as Myariard Elfungan - the Hand of Time."

He introduced himself with a polite and calm tone, very clearly not intending for any further hostilities towards me. From this introduction, one thing stood out to me more than everything else - the thing he said after his name.

'The Hand of Time'? Is that a title perhaps that he possesses within the Acolyte Dusk? Could be.. however there is only one way to find that out. I clicked my tongue, before opening my mouth, about to introduce myself, however Myariard suddenly gestured to me to seemingly remain silent.

Myariard: "Do not bother with your name. I already know who you are Mister Valor - the traveling swordsman."

Myariard stated, before lowering his arm down. Him already knowing my fake identitys name kind of caught me off guard, as I had not expected that. Sure, perhaps he was listening and observing my entire interaction with X and could have easily overhear me introduce myself to X, however, on the other hand...

There was no shortage of mind reading and what not spells in this world as I have come to known. I mean, these spells did originally also exist in the game, but they weren't playable - only ever mentioned being used in cutscenes and the story.

With the introductions out of the way, I lowered my arms, placing my left one onto the hilt of my sheathed blade.

"May I assume that we will be facing off now?"

Myariard: "Hohoho... Unfortunately for me, it does not. I simply came here to collect X and all of the other members from this base, seeing as though it has been busted by someone as capable as you."

Hearing this response, I immediately turned more serious, unsheathing my sword a bit, before Myariard suddenly stepped back and took a tight hold of Xs shoulder again.

Myariard: "Perchance we may meet again in the future, Dear Mister Valor, and if we do - then we may have our own duel. But for now - I will say a very good night to you."

He stated, before his entire body and Xs body began to glow. I immediately recognised this as a long range Teleportation ritual and immediately dashed in to try and strike Myariard — however I was a bit too slow and he suddenly vanished into thin air, with the Time Stop spell he had set up also disappearing with him.

I scuffed, before stopping myself in place and exhaling, sheathing my sword back up. I was a bit too slow to react to him casting that Teleportation ritual... I need to work on my reaction speed a bit and start reacting to things happening around me faster — otherwise I may find myself outwitted in this regard again sometime in the future.

However, despite the 'Hand of Time', X and all of the other sleeping members of the Acolyte Dusk getting away simply due to Myariard, I still did manage to get some information — even if it wasn't the one I was searching for. This organisation most definitely was one that has been around for a while and was not something new that had popped up recently.

It seems to also have a couple of impressively powerful members as well — X said that they were a 'Sergeant' of the organisation, which wasn't exactly a word you would hear in a setting such as this. And that Myariard person... I mean, he straight up managed to not only use but also uphold a Time Stop spell - and a successful one at that.

While 'Time' is not part of the elements that magic can allow us to manipulate, through simply using pure magic not elemental one, one could actually manage something such as a Time Manipulation spell. Now, these spells are incredibly hard to do and like I said earlier, attract the attention of the 'Gods' that exist in this crazy worlds story, since those spells mess with a concept that on this world should not be manipulative, however, if someone was skilled enough and had enough experience...

They would theoretically be able to perform these spells with ease — just like Myariard showed off.

Which means...

"Whoever or whatever this Acolyte Dusk organisation is, they are not to be taken lightly."

I commented quietly to myself, before turning around and exhaling, beginning to walk towards the door I had entered this room through before.

I will send a message to the Dark Lands and have Kaila or Landala come investigate this entire base for any information that may prove useful. I'll probably also have Emily and Hullowa investigate the Acolyte Dusk members that they can find to see if they can get any leads on them and what they may be up to.

Any information I can get on this whole organisation is good information. Now, with all this being said and done...

I should probably now get back to the Academys grounds and back to the dorm room. There is only a couple more hours left of darkness before the sun rises and I do not want to not be at the academy after the sunrise. And so, I simply knocked open the door — quickly checked all the other rooms which I had previously looked into and had a bunch of Acolyte Dusk members sleeping, just to confirm whether they truly were empty - which they were.

After that, I just headed out of the entire secret base, remembering its exact location within the woods in the back of my mind as I did, before leaving the concealing barrier around it and using Transformation magic to switch back to my Anker appearance. Now, it was time to get back to the academy.

With the shadows below me springing up like it was alive, they engulfed me before sinking back down into the ground, with me along.

• Next Time •

[ (22.) Demon King meets the Human King. ]